OPERATING CONDITIONS AT THE AZOV MACHINE TRACTOR STATION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A007500470007-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 15, 2008
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: August 17, 1955
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2008/05/15: CIA-RDP80-00810A007500470007-4
REPORT INFORMATION INFORMATION REPORT
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
This material conta:ns information affecting the National Defense of the United States within the meaning of the Espionage Laws, Title
18, J.S.C. Execs. 793 and 794. the transmission or revelation of which in any manner to an unauthorized pe_reon is prohibited by law.
S-E-C-R-E-T
COUNTRY
SUBJECT
DATE O INFO.
PLACE ACQUIRED
DATE ACQUIRED
The Azov MTS, which was 25 years old in 1954,,was a model of order and well-
being. It served eight collective forms with a total area of 13,000 hectares.
Some 28,000 hectares were under crop, of which 1,200 were irrigated, which
area was expected to be doubled in the next year or two.
17 August 1955
SOURCE EVALUATIONS ARE DEFINITIVE. APPRAISAL OF CONTENT IS TENTATIVE.
2. There were 23 tractor brigades, each brigade consisting of four or five
tractors and 20 to 25 men and women. The men lived under a brigade leader
at field stations, which were huts and small covered areas for machinery
and fuel, while they were working in a particular area, which is never more
than five - six kms from their families, although the MTS served a radius of
40 kms.
The director was proud of the fact that all the staff had been recruJ.ted
from the collective farms, Training courses of one-half and one year duration
were conducted throughout the year. After such a course, the trainee was
employed as a second-class tractor driver. About ten percent of-the workers
were women. Veterinarians, agronomists, and other specialists were attached
to the station and lived in the villages. Two eight-hour shifts, were worked
per day with one day a week free for each worker. Twelve members of the
senior staff turned up voluntarily on the day of the delegation's visit.
4. Of the 160 tractors, about 40 percent were crawlers and although, in his
.introduction, the director said all were diesels, a proportion of spark
ignition engines were seen among the old ones. Eleven of the 44 combines
were self-propelled and usually used for opening up a field.
5.
Contracts were made between the MTS and collective farms, and subcontracts
fixed the details of timing and exact methods. MTSs could be brought to trial
for nonfuilfilment of contract. The farms paid:'. for services with produce.
About 20 percent of all crops was the estimate of what the MTS collected for
its services. In extreme cases of failure of crops, the State canceled the
farm debt. Examples of farm payment in grain for MTS services follow:
INFORMATION FORMAT ION REPORT
usS: (Stal:_ngrad Oblast)
Operating Conditions at the Azov DATE DISTR.
Machine Tractor Station
NO. OF PAGES
REQUIREMENT NO. RD
REFERENCES
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Plowing, 110 kilos per hectare
Cultivation: 12 kilos per hectare
Harvesting: 70 kilos per hectare
Average yield of grain in the Azov area- 20 centals
(1 central = 1.9 cwt.)
Fixed price of wheat: 6 rubles per 100 kilos.
6< Director-General of the Azov MTS, V. I. Pimpkin, said that his son had
volunteered to go with a brigade to Siberia where 13 of the 30 million
hectares scheduled for reclamation had already come under the plow and
yielded this year.
7. A supervisor of 100 MTSs serving approximately 500 collective farms
estimated that requirements for 1954. in tractors for his area was
500. The requisition would be made in October and, If approved., the
units would be expected in January. It was difficult to reconcile his
estimate with the 10 to 20-year-old tractors which were seen,and it
could only be concluded that a true appreciation of obsolescence had
yet to come. In th large workshops of the station, capable of complete
overhauls, tractors were seen in various stages of dismantling. Wear
could be easily felt in the cylinderseand performance must have been
very poor for a long time before the overhaul.
8.
It was apparent, however, that only few spare-parts were carried,
because the Soviets said that spare-parts could be obtained in Rostov.
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